Child Care Quality Networks

Project Description

Emerging research suggests that now, more than ever, children need support for their healthy learning and development. The COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on child development will not be known completely for many years, but emerging research suggests that infants born during the pandemic scored lower, on average, on tests of gross motor, fine motor, and communication skills compared with those born before it. Additionally, providers have noted delays in speech and language as well as trouble sharing and being in groups. The early care and learning community acknowledges that the pandemic has exacerbated housing and food insecurity as well as rising rates of neglect and household dysfunction.

Yet, at this urgent time for child development, there is less child care available to support young children than ever as a result of COVID-19. Research from Children at Risk indicates that approximately 25% of all child-care facilities closed statewide during the height of the pandemic and 20% of all available child-care capacity was lost. Communities of color were the most impacted by COVID-19-related closures. These communities experienced twice the rate of child-care disruptions and centers within these communities were twice as likely to close. In addition to the number of closures of programs overall, those seeking to reopen, including school- based programs, struggle to hire qualified staff to support young children because of the pandemic.

Additional support will be needed to build back this supply of qualified staff and ensure the adults working in early learning settings have the resources they need to thrive. One way Harris County is addressing this need is to create an Early Learning Quality Network. A quality network is comprised of two parts, a Quality Network Support Hub, and Local Network Organizations. The Quality Network Support Hub will provide planned and on-call supports for each Local Support Organization to accomplish its goals. These supports can include but are not limited to training and coaching on baseline definitions of quality, on materials and support to create community plans, and on access to experts in various aspects of the early childhood field. The Local Network Organizations will be housed at a community-based organization within a target community across Harris County. They will form an Advisory Group to guide their work, which will consist of child-care providers, families, education and health professionals, and other key stakeholders that represent that community. The Local Network Organization will hold community conversations to adopt a definition of quality for their community and identify key initiatives to support child care while building relationships. They will fund and oversee quality initiatives across all types of child care including center-based, home-based, and family and friends child care.

PRIMARY PARTNERSHIPS

TARGET IMPACT

By creating a system of Early Learning Quality Networks to implement place-based quality improvement initiatives, we can drastically increase the number of children who experience quality child care settings on a daily basis. This approach has the potential to enhance the effectiveness of these programs on a large scale, fostering individual and institutional champions and establishing sustainable infrastructure supported by federal, state, local, and philanthropic funding going forward.

Short-term Impacts (3-4 years)

Long-term Impacts

  • 4,000+ children experience improved child care environments
  • Families have increased access to quality child care that meets their needs and preferences
  • 500+ child care providers/facilities actively participate in quality initiatives
  • 1,000 more Harris County residents understand and care about quality child care
  • Additional community infrastructure to support quality child care and robust set of quality initiatives exist in Harris County
  • Increased capacity in communities to support early learning
  • Increased network among families and child care providers in a community
  • Increased number of “go-to” partners for public and private funding to support child care
  • Strengthened system of professional development for early childhood educators

USE OF EVIDENCE & PROGRAM EVALUATIONS

School Readiness Consulting LLC (SRC) will be completing the evaluation for the Early Learning Quality Network project Their approach to the project will include a formative implementation and a descriptive examination of program impacts over the course of the three-year project. SRC will use a mixed-methods approach and design, leveraging both quantitative and qualitative data sources, and will use a theory-of-change model to inform the data protocols and analysis. The resulting findings and recommendations, along with the dissemination of results focusing on storytelling and community-centered change, will provide information that Harris County can utilize in continuous implementation and the strengthening of Early Learning Quality Networks.

PHOTOS